O ne of Australia’s rising fashion talents has joined the world’s best young designers to showcase Australian Merino wool at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW). Ben Pollitt becomes international Protégé Ben Pollitt, whose great-grandfather was a woolgrower, has taken his place beside five promising international designers as the Australian Protégé 20 fAshion Beyond the Bale To see more of the Protégé parade at Rosemount Australian fashion Week: ú www.youtube.com/AWiMerinoWool ú http://future.wool.com › › › Ben Pollitt, designer of Friedrich Gray, was announced as the Australian Protégé at the Protégé collection showing in Sydney in April. Project Protégé was created in Italy through the vision of Franca Sozzani, editor of Italian Vogue, an idea that saw some of fashion’s most prominent figures identify and mentor promising, talented protégés over the months leading up to the launch of their collections in Europe. They are: ú Jean Pierre Braganza, selected by Karl Lagerfeld; ú Kristian Aadnevik, selected by Donatella Versace; ú Ioannis Cholidis, selected by Sir Paul Smith; ú +#7; Julian Louie, selected by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein; and ú +#7; Sandra Backlund, selected by Franca Sozzani, editor of Italian Vogue. Editor of Australian Vogue, Kirstie Clements, announced that Ben Pollitt would stand alongside the world’s best young designers as the Australian Protégé. Ben’s collection, made from Australian Merino wool jersey knits and wovens, was showcased as part of the Protégé collection at RAFW. Ben was also recently awarded the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival designer of the year presented by Woolmark (see opposite page). Paolo Zegna, president of Ermenegildo Zegna, was a guest of honour at the event. Ermenegildo Zegna has been a key partner of Project Protégé since its launch in July 2007. Many of the high-quality, Merino wool woven fabrics used by the Protégés were woven at Zegna’s world-class mills. AWI’s chief executive Craig Welsh says that working with such leading names in the global fashion industry reinforces the strong position Australian Merino wool holds as the fibre of choice for the luxury end of the global apparel industry. It strengthens Australian Merino wool’s position on the international fashion stage. “While demonstrating the luxury, quality and versatility that Merino wool offers, international events such as this offer an opportunity to see how one of Australia’s leading exports is used by the international fashion elite to appeal to the key apparel markets,” Mr Welsh says. ú Project Protégé designers Kristian Aadnevik (third from left), Julian Louie (fifth from left), JeanPierre Braganza (centre), ioannis Cholidis (fourth from right) and Australia’s Ben Pollitt (second from right). Backstage with a model wearing a sandra Backlund design. Pho Tos: six6 Pho Tog RAP hy Vogue Australia states in the ‘Vogue loves …’ section of vogue.com.au: “the Wool Protégé show gave Fashion Week a much-needed injection of bold vision, future trends and covetable clothing … this was a look into the future.” AWi chief executive Craig Welsh addresses the media at Rosemount Australian fashion Week. A Ben Pollitt design on the runway at Rosemount Australian fashion Week in sydney.